Application of novel SIMS technique for imaging the active sites of oxygen reduction at the SOFC cathode/electrolyte interfaces

The oxygen reduction active sites were visualized around the O₂/SOFC cathode/electrolyte triple phase boundaries (TPB) by the¹⁶O/¹⁸O exchange techniques and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) analysis. The higher¹⁸O concentration is observed on the cathode top surfaces (La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃-mesh, Au-mesh, and Ag-porous), which suggested the promotion of oxygen adsorption and oxygen surface exchange at the cathode. The oxygen diffusion through the bulk of cathode occurred at the La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃-mesh and the Ag-porous cathodes, not at the Au-mesh cathode. On the YSZ surfaces after removing the cathode, the active sites for oxygen incorporation were analyzed by SIMS. The active sites for oxygen incorporation were at the La_0.9Sr_0.1MnO₃/YSZ interface as well as the TPB. On the other hand, the active sites for oxygen incorporation are limited to the TPB in the case of the Au-mesh removed YSZ surface. From the SIMS analysis, the expansion of the active sites for oxygen incorporation is less than a few μm from the TPB lines. Paper presented at the 8th EuroConference on Ionics, Carvoeiro, Algarve, Portugal, Sept. 16–22, 2001.     

Chromatographic characterization of thermally upgraded products from alternative fuels

An overview is presented of the analytical approaches developed by our research group over the last ten years for analysis of alternative fuel, both biomass and fossil. The alternative fuels are analyzed successively by PLC-8 (preparative liquid chromatography–group-type) fractionation and high resolution gas chromatography. Some of the possibilities for fractionation and characterization of alternative fuels are herein exemplified with sugar cane bagasse pyrolysis products.     

Chiral discrimination of a helically organized crown ether array parallel to the helix axis of polyisocyanate

The asymmetric polymerization of 4′‐isocyanatobenzo‐18‐crown‐6 with the lithium amide of (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine successfully proceeded to afford end‐functionalized poly(4′‐isocyanatobenzo‐18‐crown‐6) with (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine (polymer 2 ). In the circular dichroism (CD) spectrum of 2 , a clear positive Cotton effect was observed in the range of 240–350 nm corresponding to the absorption of the polymer backbone, indicating that 2 partially formed a one‐handed helical structure, which was preserved by the chirality of (S)‐(2‐methoxymethyl)pyrrolidine bonding to the terminal end in 2 . In the titration experiments for the CD intensity of 2 in the presence of D ‐ and L ‐Phe·HClO₄ (where Phe is phenylalanine), a small but remarkable difference was observed in the amount of the chiral guest needed for saturation of the CD intensity and in the saturated CD intensity, indicating that the extremely stable, one‐handed helical part should exist in the main chain of 2 , which was not inverted even when the unfavorable chiral guest for the predominant helical sense, L ‐Phe·HClO₄, was added. In addition, helical polymer 2 exhibited a chiral discrimination ability toward racemic guests; that is, the guests were extracted from the aqueous phase into the organic phase with enantiomeric excess. The driving force of the chiral discrimination ability of 2 should certainly be attributed to the one‐handed helical structure in 2 . © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 44: 325–334, 2006     

Electroanalytical and chromatographic determination of pentachlorophenol and related molecules in a contaminated soil: a real case example

Electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies have been applied for the determination of pentachlorophenol (PCP) and some of its derivatives in real soil samples contaminated by industrial discharge. The analytes were extracted with hexane from soil samples collected at different points of the site and mixed to produce a representative sample. Square wave voltammetry (SWV) experiments were carried out on either a boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode or a gold ultramicroelectrode (Au-UME) in an analyte composed by the Britton-Robinson (B-R) buffer at pH 5.5 with the direct addition of proper amounts of the extract. The voltammetric responses revealed an irreversible anodic peak at approximately 0.80 V vs. Ag/AgCl with a peak current showing a linear dependence on PCP concentration. This linear relationship yielded a detection limit (DL) of 2×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (or 5.5 μg l⁻¹) for the BDD electrode and 6.9×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (18.4 μg l⁻¹) for the Au-UME, while the independently measured HPLC detection limit was 1.1×10⁻⁸ mol l⁻¹ (3.0 μg l⁻¹). The application of electroanalytical and chromatographic methodologies in the analysis of soil extracts revealed, besides the PCP responses, signals for some related molecules such as o-tetrachlorobenzoquinone (o-chloranil), hexachlorobenzene and tetrachlorophenol. Recovering experiments for PCP showed a concentration of 27.5 mg kg⁻¹ for the electroanalytical determinations and 26.8 mg kg⁻¹ for the HPLC analysis, values exceedingly high if considering that the maximum residue limit established for natural waters by the Brazilian Environmental Agency is 10 μg l⁻¹.     

Evaluation of homogeneity of binary blends of poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) and poly(L-lactic acid) studied by near infrared chemical imaging (NIRCI).

The homogeneity of blends of poly((R)-3-hydroxybutyrate) (PHB) and poly(L-lactic acid) (PLLA) was evaluated by the near infrared chemical imaging (NIRCI) technique. NIRCI can nondestructively investigate a sample over a wide field of view within a few minutes to acquire a large number of spatially resolved NIR spectral data. NIRCI may be combined with multivariate analysis not only for qualitative analysis but also for statistically based quantitative analysis. The score images derived from the partial least squares regression (PLSR) analysis directly show that PHB/PLLA blends are highly homogeneous. The standard deviations (STD) of the histograms, indicating the distribution of the score values, show small values for the blends. These results qualitatively and quantitatively show the high level of homogeneity of PHB/PLLA blends. The predictions of the spatially averaged concentrations of the blend components obtained from PLSR results show values similar to the actual contents for the blends. The small errors of the predictions are also explained by STD values.     

Determination of nitrogen- and phosphorus-containing pesticide residues in vegetables by gas chromatography with nitrogen-phosphorus and flame photometric detection after gel permeation chromatography and a two-step minicolumn cleanup

An efficient and reliable multiresidue method for determining pesticide residues in a large number of vegetable samples was studied. First, the important target compounds for monitoring, 52 nitrogen- and/or phosphorus-containing pesticides, were selected. The sample was extracted with acetonitrile, and the separated acetonitrile layer was cleaned up by a salting-out step. The acetonitrile extract was purified by gel permeation chromatography that divided the pesticide eluate into 2 fractions; the pesticide fractions were respectively purified by a 2-step minicolumn cleanup in which the second pesticide fraction was loaded on a silica-gel minicolumn. After a Florisil minicolumn was inserted on the silica-gel minicolumn, the first pesticide fraction was loaded on the tandem minicolumn, which was eluted with acetone-petroleum ether (3 + 7). The combined eluate was subjected to dual-column gas chromatography (GC) with nitrogen-phosphorus and flame photometric detection. By application of the optimum cleanup conditions to the 52 pesticides selected, good resolution and low breakdown levels of the pesticides during GC were maintained. Recoveries of the 52 pesticides from fortified cabbage, lettuce, spring onion, and spinach ranged from 72 to 108% with relative standard deviations of 2-17%, except for the recoveries of methamidophos and chlorothalonil. The detection limits of the pesticides were satisfactory (0.001-0.009 mg/kg) for monitoring pesticide residues in vegetables.     

SFE of rosemary oil: Assessment of the influence of process variables and extract characterization

The effects of temperature and solvent density on the characteristics of the extracts obtained from supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) of the volatile compounds from Brazilian rosemary (Rosamarinus officianalis L., Labiatae) using carbon dioxide (CO₂) as solvent were investigated. The experiments were performed in a semi-batch laboratory scale home-made unit at two temperatures, viz. 310.15 and 320.15 K, over the pressure range of 100-160 bar. This study allowed to determine the crossover point and the maximum solubility of the oil. The products were analyzed by HRGC-MS, and compounds grouped in three different classes according to their molecular mass distribution in order to evaluate the influence of the variables studied on the characteristics of the extracts. The model proposed by Sovová was adopted in an attempt to interpret the mass transfer phenomena in the extraction process.     

Screening of acetogenin-producing plants in Brazilian flora

The acetogenins are strongly bioactive natural compounds present in the bark, roots, leaves, and seeds of manyAnnonaceae plants. They are modified fatty acids and their cytotoxicities have been determined for different biological models including the in vitro growth inhibition of several human cancer cell lines. Very low acetogenin yield (< 0.1 g%) has been found previously in native phytobiomass, and we have now investigated the nonpredatory exploitation of the seeds as acetogenin sources characterizing the seed triacylglycerols (dominant fraction; > 90% of the whole lipid extracts) as potential valuable by-products.     

Projective structures with discrete holonomy representations

Let denote the set of projective structures on a compact Riemann surface whose holonomy representations are discrete. We will show that each component of the interior of is holomorphically equivalent to a complex submanifold of the product of Teichmüller spaces and the holonomy representation of every projective structure in the interior of is a quasifuchsian group.